Pneumatic flume-gate.



P. L. HEDRICK.

PNEUMATIC FLUME GATE.

APPLICATION FILED APR.19, 1916.

1,209,156. I Patented Dec. 19, 1916.

' I 2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

17700712 I Fer/r L. Nee/rick.

P. L. HEDFHCK.

PNEUMATIC FLUME GATE.

APPLICATION FILED APR.19,1916.

1,209,156. Patented Dec. 19,1916.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

1M5 NORRIS PETERS C0,, w/mnma 11,11 c

; tlonrsystems.

means,

I I0 aZZ whom it may 00mm.-

will automatically prevent thewater from PERRY L.IHEDII,1CK, or ELGEN'TBO, CALIFORNIA,

' rN E MaTIc HUME- ATE; II

Be it known that I, PnRRx L HnDR IOK,

a citizen of the UnitedaStates, residing at 1 El Centro, in the countyof Imperial and Stateof California, have invented new and nsefulImprovements in Pneumatic Flume? Gates, of whlch the following is aspeclfi cation. j

My invention relates to a pneumatic flulne I gate especially adaptedfor'use with irrigait is an: object of this invention to con-i struct aheadgate which is absolutely watertight, and-although of small depthmaybe multiplied in its effectiveness.

Another. object of this invention is to pro-- vide a gate, the seat ofwhich is not dependent upon any contacting-parts, which are usuallysubject to wear and repair.

Another object is to provide a; gate that overflowing the canal banks.

It is another. object of this invention to provide v.--a pneumaticheadgate whereby vater from an'irrigation canal orwthe like -1nay bepassed from a higher to a lower level. The gate is provided withautomatic means for permitting" the flow of the water when theulevel -1nthe-irrigation canal ex ceeds a pre-determined level.

.lVith the foregoing and which will appear as the description "proceeds,my invention consists in the construction, combinationand arrangementof-lpart hereinafter described and claimed i In the,accompanyingQdrawings. which" form a part of this specification, Ihaveillustrated convenient and practical embodiment of my invention, and inwhich:

Figure 1 is a perspecti-vefview of a sec-.J ;tion of an irrigation canalprovlded with a plurality ofpneumatic headgates for con- V trollingthe-flow of watert'o' the fground to gate and the adjacent distributing"ditch. I Fig. 3

be irrigated. "Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view through the center ofthe pneumatic'=headis a top plan view thereof.

r 10 designatesan irrigation canal gates 12, 12.

I sides'of the. canal and ditches as well as the levees 13, 13constructed of cementaor con creter A-shallow 9Qllrete lined pitllxcon-r Application filed April 19, 1916. 1 Serial M9248 other objectsSpecification of Letters Patent. 1 PafleIited DCl 19, 1916'.

nects the irrigation canallll withthe'land to:

be irrigated. A vertical transverse partition wall 15, preferably ofconcrete, extends,

downwardly, thevlower endof said wall beingspaced f-rom theabottom ofpit 1 1, vThis I walllodivides the pit 14 into two trap:

chambers 16and' ;17 ,7 which areopen at the A 7 top and communicate with,each "other through the passage l8'jwhich is formed byv the lower endof wall l5 a-nd the bottom of the pit. ;A horizontal wall 19 providedwith a circular opening 23vextends from the base of thewall .15 acrosstothe opposite side wall 20 of the chamber 16. A pair of verticalconcentric cylindrica'lthimbles; 21 and 22',

extend upwardly from the wall 19,-the up- 10, the lower ends of saidthimbles makingv 19. vvThe 'innerthimble 22 is open 'atlboth I ends, thecircular opening correspondingto the internal diameter of the thimble22; A duplex ,cover 24 comprising a circular top plate :2 5 from which apair of concentric thimbles 26 and 27 in airtight connection per endsbeing at substantially the same I level as the, bottom ofthe irrigationcanal a water tight joint with the horizontal jwalltherewith extendvertically. downward in f straddlingrelation to the stationary thimbles21 and22. As clearly shown'in Fig 2, the

cover thimble 26 surrounds the outer'sta tionary thimble 21. The innercover thimble 27 is: disposed between thestationary thiin '7 bles. .Ahandle 28 fastened tothimble 26 or to top plate 25 is provided wherebysaid cover may be. lifted; 2 or entirely removed from the chamber16,3Ahoriz'ontal were 1'] extending transversely ',between the lateralwalls of the headgategopeningis provided,

which serves to maintain the multiple cover in position on thestationary thimbles 21 and 22; The stationary rod, $10-is placed closeto partition w'all,15',--1e1ss than one-half the diamete'rjof cover.plate 25 awayvtherer from, so that the handle may-be turned 1nderarod 40and the buoyancy of the .cover,

due tothewaterheadgfresisted 'byrod 40...,

' the central chamber, 30jwithin-theinner sta tionary thimble;;;22;andwit-h the annular I 'a" re,mounted; on the .top'fplate. 25'beinginicommunication with; '10.

space-formed-by the outer and" inner-"coverf thimbles26sand 27,respectively; A snifl' hole 39 is provided in the :ourter eover ithim-gble. 26'near the lower end thereof for the 3:

purpose of rbreaking theqsi'phonage, -w hen 'wateroin the canalsisallowed to become high 'of' the water.

enough to force the multiple trap and start siphonage. r i

Assumingthat there is no water in the trap chambers 16 and 17 or betweenthe thimbles 21 or 22, and the water is turned on in the irrigationcanal 10 and that the cover 24: is in position as shown in Fig. 2,theair valves being closed, the water Wlll pass between the stationarythimblcs 21 and 22 I 'requiredjto overcome the resistance to the fiowofwater through the pneumatic head gate. p 7

It is not necessary to provide any means for adjusting the height of themultiple cover which is either locked in position en tirely down or isentirely withdrawn, allow ing the water from the canal to pass throughthe gate to the irrigating ditch, except that the regulator may behooked in position to partially restrict the flow. The distance betweenthe thimbles 21, 26, 27 and 22, is quite small, oneeighth of an inch orless ofspace between said-thimbles being suflicient. With thimbles neartogether, more resistance is ofi'ered to the water and the volume ofwater passing between said thimbles is so reduced that siphonage doesnot take place, while if the cover is pushed down and thereis an areabetweenthe thimbles equal to the area of the opening 30, it is diflicultand wellnigh impossible to prevent siphonic action when shoving thecover into position.

Whenit is desired toallow the flow'of 7 water through the gate withoutregulation,

it is merely necessary to open the air valves 29 and 29 allowing the airwithin the central opening 30 andin the annular space between thethimbles 26 and 28 of the mul-f In this case, cover tiple cover toescape. thimbles are held up from the horizontal wall 19 byplacing astirrup 54 under the cover plate 25 which stirrup holds the cover up andfree from stationary thimbles and makes a space-for the water to pass.

Against high heads'of water," the gate is closed as follows'z'The-airvalves 29 and 29'" being closed and the cover, entirely filled in place,compressing the air and efi'ectually trapping; the air against the fullhead of "water within the gate. lhe temporary slide 11 is then removedand carried forward and used with othergates.

The spaces between thimbles 27 and 22 and between 21 and 26 will be fullof air while the space between 21 and 27 will contain water thus forminga second trap equal to the first. This water is forced out over the topofthe thimble 22. If it is desired to start the flow of water throughthe headgate irrespective of the head of water in the canal, it ismerely necessary to open the air valves 29 and 29, which, as statedbefore communicate with the central chamber 80 and the annular spacebetween the cover thimbles 26 and 27. Whenthe air valve is open, noresistance is ofiered to the-flow of the water, but as soon as the waterrises in the chambers 16 and 17 which act as a trap, the air within thecentral and annular chambers will be forced out through the air valve29. r V

' While I have shown two stationary thimbles and'two cover thimbles, itwill be understood that the pneumatic headgate may be constructed withbut one or with more than two. Each additional pair of thimbles merelymultiplies the head of water in the canal which is required'to overcomethe resistance of the imprisoned air within the gate after the trapchambers have been filled with water. Assuming that the vertical distance of a thimble is six inches and the depth of the trap, the same, asingle cover and a single thimble would hold the water back to a heightcorresponding thereto, buta double thimble and cover with two thimbles,requires twice the head of water to overcome the Y resistance.

While I have shown and described a pneumaticvheadgate in'the preferredmode of construction as now known to me, I do not confine myself to thedetails of the construction and combination as described, as variouschanges therein may be made by those skilled in the .art withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention as defined in the appendedclaims. V 1

While I have shown my apparatus as applied to the distribution of waterfrom a higher to a lower level in irrigating systems, it is'obviousthatthe same is of general ap plication, and may be used wherever it isdesired to automatically regulate the flow of a liquid from a higher toa lower level. It may be used as anautomatie gateseal, or the trap maybe extended to form a stock watering trough, which will automaticallyfill as usedwithout need of valves, floats or moving parts. I

I claim: V t I 1. In a pneumatic flume gate, the combination of a maincanal, a ditch,a pit below copies or this patent may be obtained for thebottom of the main canal, a vertical partition wall dividing said pitinto an anterior and, a posterior chamber, said partition wall beingspaced from the bottom of said pit, a horizontal partition wallconnected to said .vertical partition wall, a pair of fixed verti-s calcylindrical tubes concentrically arranged, extending upwardly from saidhorizontal wall, said tubes having open tops substantially on the samelevel as the bottom of themain canal, the inner tube being also open atthe bottom and communicating with said posterior chamber, a cover forsaid tubes, said cover having a'pair of cylindrical tubular membersconcentrically arranged and open at the bottom extending downwardlytherefrom, the inner of said members projecting downwardly between theannular space formed between said fixed tubes, the

outer of said members surrounding the outer 7 tube, means disposedbetween said cover and said tubes for maintaining said cover in verticaltubesf concentrically arranged in said anterior chamber, sald tubesbeingopen at the top, the inner tube being also open at the bottom andcommunicating with said.

passage, a cover for said tubes, said cover having a pair of tubularmembers concentrically arranged and open atthe bottomextendingdownwardly fromsaid cover,the inner of said members projectingdownwardly between the annular space formed between said tubes, theouterjmember surrounding the outer tube, means for maintaining saidcover in spaced relation to said tubes, means cooperating with saidcover for preventingupward movement of the latter and independent vaircocks communicating with the annular space formed between the inner andouter tubular members and with the inner tube, respectively, v

3. In a pneumatic fiume gate, the combination of a main canal and aditch connected therewith, a pair of fixed vertical tubes forming apassage between said canal and said ditch, said tubes having their topsopen and substantially on the level with the bottom ofsaid main-canal,the inner tube,

being also open at the bottom and'forming a connecting passage betweensaid canal and said ditch, a cover for said tubes having a pair oftubular members concentrically arranged" and open at the bottomextending downwardly therefrom, the inner of said members proj ectingdownwardly between the annular space formed between said tubes,

the outer ofsaid members surrounding the outer tube, means for spacingsaid cover flOlIlSELld tube, and meansfor preventing upward movement ofsaid cover.

4. In a pneumaticvfiume gate, the combi-. nat on of a mam canal'and adltch connected therewith, a pair of fixed vertical tubes forming apassage between said canal and I said-ditch, said tubes having theirtopsopen and substantially on the level with the bottom of said maincanal, the inner tube being also open at the, bottom and forming aconnecting passagebetween said canal and said ditch, a cover for saidtubes having a' pair of tubular members concentrically arranged and openat the bottom extending ,downwardly therefrom, the inner of said membersproj ecting downwardly between the annular space formed between'saidtubes, the

outer of said members surrounding the outer tube, and means for spacingsaid cover from" said tube. 1

name to this specification.

PERRY L, HEDRIOK.

five cents by addressing the rgq ommiss ioner of Patents. Washington,'D. G, r

'90 Intestimony whereof I have signed my

